The Mushroom Life Cycle
by: mjones91
Total views: 434
Word Count: 424
Mushrooms are truly unique organisms. Their full potential in recycling
agricultural wastes and tree stump decomposing has yet to be taken
advantage. Some mushrooms like the Shiitake
even boast cancer fighting properties.
Oyster, Button Mushrooms (Portabello), the Paddy Straw mushroom, and
Shaggy Manes can even be grown on pasteurized straw making their cultivation
very cost effective considering straw is very inexpensive. Food shortages can be improved by imploring
this method of cultivation in impoverished countries.
Mycology, the study of fungi, is a division of Microbiology
where scientists study the interaction of mushrooms, the environment and human
uses.
Most mushrooms reproduce asexually by releasing thousands of
spores through their gills into the open air for dispersion into the
environment. Every spore is capable of
germinating to create a new hypha.
Hyphae are masses of intertwined filaments of cells which are the
morphological unit of the fungus. When a
thick mass of hyphae forms it is called mycelium or mycelia. Mushroom mycelium is usually white in color
with a rough, cottony texture. Root like
growth is called rhizomorphic.
When spores germinate they consume the water and nutrients
from their environment and begin to reproduce.
The medium that mushroom mycelium grows on is usually called
substrate. Before the mushroom can start
to form fruit bodies the mycelium colonizes the substrate fully and when the
environmental conditions are right the mushroom emerges to produce more
spores.
A mushroom cultivator can take advantage of the rapid growth
mushroom mycelium exhibits by introducing it into new, sterile substrates. The mycelium is so tenacious that a 10 cc
culture syringe can inoculate 10 quart jars of rye substrate, the preferred
medium of most cultivators, and those in
turn can be multiplied up to 10,000 times their weight. As mentioned, the true potential of mushrooms
has yet to be taken advantage of.
Mushroom cultures can be stored for prolonged periods of
time to preserve the unique strains that mushrooms produce. Some strains are desired for their rapid
growth, resistance to disease and other characteristics.
Resources: Growing Medicinal and Gourmet Mushrooms by Paul
Stamets and Fundamentals of Microbiology by Jeffery Pommerville.
Feel free to use this article for your website but please
leave the document intact, including the link section. If you use our article, send us an email with
a link to your site. We might just add
your site to our links page!
About the Author
Be sure to check out our website for a wide variety of mushroom growing supplies including live <a href=” http://www.the-shroom-room.com/store/home.php?cat=256”>culture syringes</a> and <a href=” http://www.the-shroom-room.com/store/home.php?cat=253”>complete mushroom grow kits</a>
.
<a href=http://www.the-shroom-room.com/>http://www.the-shroom-room.com/</a>
Rating: Not yet rated
Login to vote